Hello, first thread here! My wife and I both use CPAP machines, and we're going camping for two nights at the beginning of August. We need an affordable (as cheap as possible) set-up to power our machines. My machine info is in my profile. My wife has the ResMed AirSense 10 with a Humid Air humidifier and the heated tube.

You'll each need the 12V to 24V converter for the S9 and A10. They are different due to the machine's plug.
Do not try to run them off your car's battery, you be stuck with a no start battery state.
I recommend a Deep Cycle Sealed Lead-Acid 12V battery separate from car's electrical system.
You can do some engineering and rig the car to charge the SLA battery during the day when the car is running.
Turn off your humidifiers to save power. I suggest the Optima D31A, 75 Amp-Hr Battery.
It's not a cheap setup, the converters alone will be about $100 USD each.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.

Hi prime8,
WELCOME! to the forum.!
There are quite a few camping threads here on the board.
If you go down to the end of this thread, you will see a heading called "Possibly Related Threads" and you'll find several camping and battery threads there.
Hang in there for more suggestions and answers to your questions.
Have fun camping.
Much success to both of you as you continue your CPAP therapy.

(07-05-2015 08:58 PM)justMongo Wrote: You'll each need the 12V to 24V converter for the S9 and A10. They are different due to the machine's plug.

...

It's not a cheap setup, the converters alone will be about $100 USD each.

Yup - that's one of the problems with the Resmeds since they switched to the 24 V eunuchs, er, units. No direct DC connection like in the old S8 days.

But, once you get to that point, they do run fairly low drains without heated humidification. Do not try to run the heaters. If you must have humidification, try going the passive route. Respironics has a humidifier tray contraption that can go between the blower and the mask.

(07-05-2015 02:48 PM)prime8 Wrote: Hello, first thread here! My wife and I both use CPAP machines, and we're going camping for two nights at the beginning of August. We need an affordable (as cheap as possible) set-up to power our machines. My machine info is in my profile. My wife has the ResMed AirSense 10 with a Humid Air humidifier and the heated tube.

This runs me and my wife, with humidifier on high, and a small fan, for one night:

(07-05-2015 08:58 PM)justMongo Wrote: You'll each need the 12V to 24V converter for the S9 and A10. They are different due to the machine's plug.
Do not try to run them off your car's battery, you be stuck with a no start battery state.
I recommend a Deep Cycle Sealed Lead-Acid 12V battery separate from car's electrical system.
You can do some engineering and rig the car to charge the SLA battery during the day when the car is running.
Turn off your humidifiers to save power. I suggest the Optima D31A, 75 Amp-Hr Battery.
It's not a cheap setup, the converters alone will be about $100 USD each.

Supplier 26 has the S9 DC-DC converter for $84.95 and free shipping for orders over $99. I bought both S9 and A10 DC-DC converters from them. The A10 had some "loyalty bucks" discount from buying the S9 converter and was a similar price. I'm sure you could call them directly and negotiate something for both.

I think 35 amp-hour AGM wheelchair/scooter batteries are the way to go. You can find them for $65 with free shipping on Amazon. They only weigh 25 pounds so they're no big deal to lug around. Two 35 amp-hour AGM batteries in parallel will be much cheaper than an Optima D31A and I wouldn't want to lug around a 60 pound battery.

I already owned a battery charger but I bought a low power Battery Tender Junior to keep the battery topped up. They're $24-ish on Amazon or at Walmart.

If you just fill the humidifier tank with warm water and disable the humidifier and heated hose, you should get several days out of a 35 amp-hour battery or two people/1 night out of the battery. If you're camping in the desert, you probably need way more battery to run the humidifier.

(07-05-2015 02:48 PM)prime8 Wrote: Hello, first thread here! My wife and I both use CPAP machines, and we're going camping for two nights at the beginning of August. We need an affordable (as cheap as possible) set-up to power our machines. My machine info is in my profile. My wife has the ResMed AirSense 10 with a Humid Air humidifier and the heated tube.

This runs me and my wife, with humidifier on high, and a small fan, for one night:

<link removed because of forum rules>

If you want two nights, you'll need a way to recharge the battery or will need a second battery.

Thanks for this! My wife's machine has the humidifier built-in and uses a heated tube, so this might be a better option. We're going on the trip tomorrow, so I unfortunately can't order anything online.

(07-30-2015 07:57 PM)prime8 Wrote: Thanks for this! My wife's machine has the humidifier built-in and uses a heated tube, so this might be a better option. We're going on the trip tomorrow, so I unfortunately can't order anything online.

INFORMATION ON APNEA BOARD FORUMS OR ON APNEABOARD.COM SHOULD NOT BE CONSIDERED AS MEDICAL ADVICE. ALWAYS SEEK THE ADVICE OF A PHYSICIAN BEFORE SEEKING TREATMENT FOR MEDICAL CONDITIONS, INCLUDING SLEEP APNEA. INFORMATION POSTED ON THE APNEA BOARD WEB SITE AND FORUMS ARE PERSONAL OPINION ONLY AND NOT NECESSARILY A STATEMENT OF FACT.